Report and photos by Allison Kennedy  

Since the Ste-Julie gate drop there’s been little doubt that Team Toyota Yamaha Blackfootdirect.com Fox Racing's Colton Facciotti had the speed to win a moto this season.  It all came together in Regina, where Facciotti won the first moto with a 28-second gap over second place Jeff Gibson. Facciotti looked like he’d snag the win in the second moto as well, until Carpenter started closing in on him in the last few laps. Facciotti went over the bars on a steep downhill, handing Carpenter the lead. Somehow, he managed to get up fast enough to finish fourth, and giving him his first career MX1 overall with 1-4 motos.  Congrats Colt.

Why isn’t this man smiling? Paul Carpenter put on an amazing charge in the second MX1 moto, coming from way back to catch and pass both Roy and Facciotti. But Carpenter wasn’t sporting his usual podium smile. After working his way up to fourth place in the first MX1 moto, Carpenter was docked five positions for a yellow flag infraction, the ruling left a sour taste in his mouth about the day’s racing.  

Carpenter’s mechanic adds fuel to the fire, pushing the #101 to make the pass on Northrop in the second moto. Carpenter laughed after the moto when we told him about the pit board, he says he and Norcal are buddies and the message was just meant to spur him on. It seems to have worked … and FYI, nobody got parked.  

JSR made up a handful of points on Carpenter after finishing second overall with 4-2 motos. In the first moto, Roy had a shot at the win, but went down trying to pass Jeff Gibson just seconds after he'd stolen the lead. He battled back to fourth place in that moto. He again had the lead in the second moto, but surrendered it to teammate Colton Facciotti. He rode in second for most of the moto, until Carpenter got by him using this outside rut to set up a unique line in the whoops and make the pass. JSR trails Carpenter by 33 points heading to Calgary.  

While Monster Energy Cernic’s Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter has been garnering most of the attention so far, Jeff Gibson has been putting in consistent rides, and earning enough points to find himself fifth in the MX1 series. He had a breakout weekend at Regina, leading the first MX1 moto before getting passed by Facciotti. He followed that up with a sixth place in the second moto. With another hard-packed track on the schedule at Calgary, Gibson could land on the podium again in the next few rounds.  

MX2 East points leader Michael Willard made his first appearance of the season in the MX1 class and didn’t disappoint. Willard grabbed the holeshot in the second moto and hung with the frontrunners to finish third overall with 3-3 motos.  

Holeshot Racing/Denny’s Kawasaki MX1 addition Jeff Northrop showed his speed on the hard-packed Regina track. Northrop finished third in the first MX1 moto before being docked for the same yellow flag infraction as Carpenter. His 8-7 results on paper don’t do justice to how well Norcal rode.  

What a difference a week can make. Despite his obvious frustration with the five-position yellow flag penalty that took away his Morden win last weekend, Team Toyota Yamaha Blackfootdirect.com Fox Racing's Jimmy Nelson came out stronger than ever, and went 1-1, a win that helped him to both prove his raw speed and helped him recapture the points lead in the series. 

Royal Distributing/Stoneridge/KTM Canada’s Eric Nye picked up both holeshots in the MX2 class. Nye finished 2-4 for second overall.  

The second MX2 moto was this close in the opening laps. Here leader Eric Nye is trailed by Gray Davenport, Tucker Hibbert, Ben Evans and Jimmy Nelson.  

Who the heck is Ben Evans? Well, we should all know by now. The 17-year-old Idaho native has introduced himself as a series contender in just two rounds of the MX2 West series. If his Morden mud win (after Nelson’s penalty sent him back to sixth) left any doubt, his performance in the second MX2 moto at Regina proved he’s got plenty of talent and speed. Evans had a great battle with Nelson in the second moto, taking second and securing third in the points race, just two points back from Eric Nye and five points behind Nelson. You'll know Ben's name by the end of this series.

This week’s unknown triple digit Honda rider was Washington state's Kevin Urquhart. Urquhart was fast in the first MX2 moto, finishing third and introducing himself to the Canadian moto public. He went 3-7 after struggling with bike problems in the second moto. Welcome to the podium, Kevin.  

After a heart-wrenching start to the season in Morden, Tucker Hibbert was looking for redemption in Regina. He found it in the second moto, after breaking away from the six-man battle in the opening laps, to run with Evans and Nelson at the front of the pack. Hibbert went 6-3 for fourth overall, and made his first appearance on the Canadian MX2 West podium.  

Yamaha’s Kyle Beaton went 4-5 for fifth overall in the MX2 class, the top Canadian finish for the weekend. In the first moto, Beaton had a great start but a mistake in the opening laps cost him valuable positions. He battled his way back to fourth, holding off a charging Grey Davenport for the last few laps of the moto.  

See you at the races ...